The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1887-12-11
WHAT FREE WOOL MEANS.
Manufacturers and Consumers Both q
Profit Ky 1t.

i've tplnblng Hills lH fnliautipn'"' "
=. Denegre OF that firm said with refer
ence TO the Presidents message we
are very much pleased Win IL. what
the manufacturing interests OF this coun-
try now stand most in need Of is free raw
materials. and this is especially true of
the wooden goods industry. BY placing
wool on the free list the present large
revenues derived from its importation
would cease, and at the same time the
manufacturers OF the country would Oh
tain their necessary materials in larger
variety and al less cost than now, thus
enabling them 10 produce greater va
rieiy OF goods al lower prices As it
j. now We import the bulk Of
our very coarse and very fine woods. The
duty upon these varies according 10 the
quality and value in the home market,
and the Governments revenue is i'm
mense Place all raw wool on the free
list, and the impOrtations Of raw wool
would be largely increased, while those
OF the manufactured goods would nearly
cease, because with free raw materials
our own manufacturers would produce
as fine goods as can be made anywhere
and in sufficient quantity 10 supply the
needs Of the entire country. The tariff
/ conditions of the country have fostered
the production Of Interchangeable woods,
for which the climate conditions seem
also to be favorable. But all our coarse
carpet woods and all fine long-fbre woods,
so necessary 10 our manufacturers for
mixing with the shorter and more sprinPy
staple of this country, are imported.
\ some few sheep growers in the hills OF
/ Pennsylvania would find the profit
knocked Out Of their business, but hard
+ ~ think our people want 20 continue TO
pay tribute % a few men who are try
ing TO make wool raising pay on lands
that are worth $2j an acre. The land
is worth too much for such purpose,
and there is great abundance of good
sheep pasture in the United States that is
useful for no other purpose.
"The wool growing industry Of this
country, which is pursued under natural
conditions, is not in need Of protection
And ! am so far Protectionist that
would oppose any reduction of the tariff
which would neCessitate a reduction IN
the wages Of American woTkmen, but
this is not one Of that kind Of re'uc.
tiOns. On the other hand IL would re-
suit in retaining in the country ard in
| the possession Of the consumer a larger
portion of the present cost of his wooden
wearing apparel than is represented by
the tariff alone. Take, for example, the
overcOat you wear Ii is made Of i'm
ported cloth. The wool was produced
in either Australia, South Africa, or
South America London is the great
wool market for all Europe and there il
is first transpOIted-Of course, in English
ships, paying brokerage, Insurance, ex-
change, warehousing taxes, and Otner
charges 70 Englishmen. In London, with
all these accumulated charges, il is sold
at auction sales 10 q French or German
spinner IL is sent 10 France or Ger
many, gathering fresh charges with every
manipulation. In France or Ger
many il is spun and woven into cloth,
and the expense OF spinning and weaving
is added 10 its ever increasing cost. Now
an American buyer comes along and
gives American money in payment Of all
I the accumulated expenses and profits of
some thirty 10 sixty different persons and
| institutions, English, German, and
French, through whose hands the law
muerial has passed and come out finished
cloth. Now the American buyer owns
the cloth, and when he pays foreign in
surance and railroad freight upon il ne
may have the privilege OF hiring for
eign vessel 20 take il 10 America for him.
And now, before ne can get II into the
American market, he must pay the GOV
eminent a tax Of from 90 10 30 per cent.
upon your OvercOat cloth al least -
per cent-which, with the costs OF trans
portation, double the cost Of the goods 10
him Then they are placed upon the
market, and when YOU buy them you pay
profit to your tailor, one TO the iobber
one 10 the importer, and the tax 10 the
Governmental Americans, and TO some
thirty to sixty foreigners you pay all the
rest
Now supposing the tariff bearier
against free importation Of the raw ma
terial is removed ] send my buyer 10
Montevideo, Buenos Ayres, Rio JaneirO
or other South American port, and buy
that raw material. tits brought direct 10
New York in an American yessel-fOr if
there is now no direct line of cOmmuni-
cation between South American and
United States ports the demands Of COM
merce would soon provide One-the wool
would be spun and woven, dyed and han
died, insured, exchanged, and otherwise
manipulated here, passing through half
the number of profi-reaping hands TO the
consumer, and every expenditure made
in the course Of its manipulation from
the time il leaves the South American
port until il reaches your wardrobe is paid
TO an American individual or an American
institution, and the money so expended
remains in America, to be again sent into
circulation. A hundred American inter
eets would be benefited, and the Govern
ment would not get the tax il does not
want.
at is Just this condition of things
which is perfectly well understood by |
the English press and which has led their
statesmen 10 say that the first severe |
blow at English commercial supremacy |
would be struck when America placed |
raw materials on the free list. No other
single step in the direction of tariff re-
form would so rebound TO the best in /